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Monday, July 6, 2009

attack on Israel Conservative synagogue

Fire blackened the entrance of the Masorti Yedid Nefesh synagogue in=Modi'in.>>The fire blackened the entrance mat and melted two plastic plants.>>Members of the community, which numbers about 40=20>families, said that the incident comes just two=20>weeks after a sign was placed on the fa=E7ade of=20>the synagogue identifying it with the Masorti movement.>>But police said that fire was set by bored=20>teenagers and that there was no suspicion that=20>the attack was religiously motivated.>>The building, the community's first permanent=20>house of prayer, was built over a year ago with=20>help from the Housing and Construction Ministry and the Modi'in=Municipality.>>"The damage was minimal but the shock is great,"=20>said Naomi Dar, chairperson of Yedid Nefesh."The=20>attack was definitely aimed against us," added=20>Dar who admitted that except for a few isolated=20>incidents, Masorti Jews always felt welcome and comfortable in Modi'in.>>But Supt. Yoram Barina, commander of the Modi'in=20>police station, said that the arson incident was=20>the work of "bored youths on summer vacation"=20>and rejected the possibility that the fire was=20>started by individuals ideological opposed to the Masorti movement.>>"This was just a prank by a bunch of kids who=20>played around with fire," said Barina.>>Modi'in Reut Spokesman Elad Shimonovich said=20>that an investigation by the Modi'in security=20>department and Modi'in Police revealed that the=20>incident was an act of vandalism by teenagers,=20>and not an attempt to firebomb a synagogue=20>motivated by ideology or religious conviction.>>"This is a prefab building that from the outside=20>does not look like a synagogue and therefore the=20>youths were not conscious of their actions," said Shimonovich.>>Chief Rabbi of Modi'in David Lau, who is=20>Orthodox, said in response to the incident that=20>"burning synagogues was never the way of the Torah.">>Dar said that about three years ago a group of=20>haredi youths disrupted prayers and scared=20>children of the community during Pessah=20>services. Police detained some of the youths,=20>who were ordered to apologize to the community.>>Dar said that in another incident, a former=20>municipality representative from Shas publicly=20>denounced the Masorti movement during a=20>discussion on land allocation for the Yedid Nefesh synagogue.>>"But in general, the municipality and citizens=20>here are very accepting of us. We never receive=20>bad feelings from anyone," he said.>Attorney Yizhar Hess, executive director and CEO=20>of the Masorti Movement in Israel, said in=20>response, "We are surprised and shocked by the=20>attempt to damage the synagogue because Modi'in=20>and the municipality is pluralistic, open and=20>accepting and open to all three streams of Judaism.>>"It is difficult to tell whether this was a=20>religiously motivated attack or pointless=20>vandalism but we hope that this is a one-time=20>incident that will not repeat itself," he said.>>This was not the first arson attack on a Masorti=20>synagogue. On a Saturday night in June 2000,=20>arsonists threw Molotov cocktails into one in=20>the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramot, setting=20>fire to the building's interior and causing thousands of dollars of damage.>>The firebombing had been preceded by an attempt=20>a few weeks before to burn the front door of the same synagogue.>